Monday 4 August 2014

NOW THAT IT'S ALL OVER....

A Guest Post by Wilson Crichton

Following his successful post last week, Wilson brings the figures up to date, with grateful thanks from Munguin.

On the subject of the Commonwealth Games, Munguin would also like to pay his respects to the people who organised what I think most of us would describe as a successful Games. 

It was ready on time; it came in on budget; it wasn't totally devoid of politics, but there was genuine warmth between athletes and fans, and a few reprehensible moments with two faced flags, etc, were soon pushed into the dust by the friendly warm atmosphere reported widely by the press and bloggers alike.

Congratulations to Glasgow, the committee set up to organise the Games, the City council and the government and a special word for Munguin's friend, Cabinet Secretary for the Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners' Rights. 

************
Now that it’s all over......

Last weekend driven by the BBC outpost in Scotland from the Commonwealth Games on the telly to stir the medals numbers about, I was quite surprised that there appeared to be a pattern (albeit fuzzy around the edges) that per capita smaller nations generally did better than the larger ones. I thought that larger nations may have had the advantage of “bandwidth” in that they could afford, and had the talent to invest in, a broader range of sports for their athletes. The smaller nations would be dead good in a few sports but may well be swamped by the larger's greater resource base once all the events were over.

I thought at the time I might have seen that with Scotland slipping from 3rd to 4th, about the time when the games moved on from the Velodrome and Tollcross Baths to track & field etc. By the way, did you see Mr. Bolt's race – my goodness, he's well named.

Here's the final medal standings:

Trad placng
Tot-gold
Tot-silver
Tot-bronze
Grand Total
1
ENG
58
59
57
174
2
AUS
49
42
46
137
3
CAN
32
16
34
82
4
SCO
19
15
19
53
5
IND
15
30
19
64
6
NZL
14
14
17
45
7
RSA
13
10
17
40
8
NGR
11
11
14
36
9
KEN
10
10
5
25
10
JAM
10
4
8
22
11
SIN
8
5
4
17
12
MAS
6
7
6
19
13
WAL
5
11
20
36
14
CYP
2
4
2
8
15
NIR
2
3
7
12
16
PNG
2
0
0
2
17
CMR
1
3
3
7
18
UGA
1
0
4
5
19
GRN
1
0
1
2
20
BOT
1
0
0
1
20
KIR
1
0
0
1
22
TTO
0
3
5
8
23
PAK
0
3
1
4
24
BAH
0
2
1
3
24
SAM
0
2
1
3
26
NAM
0
1
2
3
27
MOZ
0
1
1
2
27
MRI
0
1
1
2
29
BAN
0
1
0
1
29
IOM
0
1
0
1
29
NRU
0
1
0
1
29
SRI
0
1
0
1
33
GHA
0
0
2
2
33
ZAM
0
0
2
2
35
BAR
0
0
1
1
35
FIJ
0
0
1
1
35
LCA
0
0
1
1

So far, so ho-hum. The top 10-15 nations are mostly developed and wealthy, wha'dya expect?


Engineers when trying to compare disparate information may look to find some way(s) to normalise the data, to put it on a more even footing. The two most stand out elements in this data set for me are wealth and population. The wealth side of things is the basis for a PhD project, so, I'll concentrate on the population issue. As before, I found the countries' population from worldpopulationreview.com/countries/, and those not there I picked out from Google searches. The exception to this is the population of Cyprus, for which I took Philip D's number.

The medals standing seriatim looks to be based on most to least golds, then likewise silver and to bronze. So, dividing through by population in millions and sorting as described above, gives the following table:

Population
Trad placng
Tot-gold
Tot-silver
Tot-bronze
1
0.1
19
GRN
10.00
0.00
10.00
2
0.1
20
KIR
10.00
0.00
0.00
3
5.3
4
SCO
3.58
2.83
3.58
4
2.8
10
JAM
3.57
1.43
2.86
5
4.5
6
NZL
3.11
3.11
3.78
6
0.8
14
CYP
2.50
5.00
2.50
7
23.3
2
AUS
2.10
1.80
1.97
8
3
13
WAL
1.67
3.67
6.67
9
5.3
11
SIN
1.51
0.94
0.75
10
1.8
15
NIR
1.11
1.67
3.89
11
56.1
1
ENG
1.03
1.05
1.02
12
35.2
3
CAN
0.91
0.45
0.97
13
2
20
BOT
0.50
0.00
0.00
14
7.4
16
PNG
0.27
0.00
0.00
15
52.9
7
RSA
0.25
0.19
0.32
16
44.6
9
KEN
0.22
0.22
0.11
17
29.8
12
MAS
0.20
0.23
0.20
18
173.6
8
NGR
0.06
0.06
0.08
19
22.4
17
CMR
0.04
0.13
0.13
20
37.8
18
UGA
0.03
0.00
0.11
21
1255.7
5
IND
0.01
0.02
0.02
22
0.009
29
NRU
0.00
111.11
0.00
23
0.09
29
IOM
0.00
11.11
0.00
24
0.2
24
SAM
0.00
10.00
5.00
25
0.4
24
BAH
0.00
5.00
2.50
26
1.3
22
TTO
0.00
2.31
3.85
27
1.2
27
MRI
0.00
0.83
0.83
28
2.3
26
NAM
0.00
0.43
0.87
29
21.3
29
SRI
0.00
0.05
0.00
30
26
27
MOZ
0.00
0.04
0.04
31
183.8
23
PAK
0.00
0.02
0.01
32
157.2
29
BAN
0.00
0.01
0.00
33
0.2
35
LCA
0.00
0.00
5.00
34
0.3
35
BAR
0.00
0.00
3.33
35
0.9
35
FIJ
0.00
0.00
1.11
36
14.5
33
ZAM
0.00
0.00
0.14
37
26
33
GHA
0.00
0.00
0.08

Looks surprisingly similar to the one I did on the 28th. In terms of weight punching, the less populous, developed nations KO the larger by some margin. With one exception, the top 10 nations have a population of 5.3 million or less. The exception, as was the case on the 28th, is Oz, double good on them.


Well behind Oz, England and Canada lead the charge for the larger nations (30 million and more) by a sizable margin with a gold score of c. 1+/- pm with their nearest challengers being half that. These two being perhaps the wealthiest countries left in the table.

The countries of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England, all did pretty well. However, on a gold per head basis: Scotland - 3.6 golds/ million Scots, Wales – 1.7 golds/million Welsh, Northern Ireland – 1.1 golds/ million Nor'n Irish, and finally England – 1/million English. 

Well that looks a bit different from the gushing guff we've been getting from our BBC outpost in Scotland crew. England may have had a great medal haul but as a nation they were the poorest at punching their weight. They got their bumps felt. Think if I was His High Excellency Grand Sports Poo-Baa Coe, I'd be wondering where the failure was in the sporting systems in England - definitely not in their athletes. Or, maybe he's just good at going around in circles, and being dismissive of Scotland. 

Super well done to Granada and Kiribati, in my view the winners of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Well done Scotland, a great games and a great result!

(As a matter of interest if the medal table was arranged in order of total medals, then on a population basis, the standings would be: Wales #4, Scotland #8, Northern Ireland #12 & England #18 – well done Wales in that case.)

Obviously, the traditional medal standings favour the larger nations and by inspection the wealthier ones too. But across one set of nations with broadly similar wealth, sporting culture, much of the same sporting environment opportunities, the smaller nations kick arse.


In my last wee note I was pretty scathing about the scunner BBC Scotland for letting themselves be invaded and subjecting us to that crew.

Sad Sack that I am, I wondered why BBC Scotland couldn't put together a decent commentary crew. Sure, put in a few non-Scots to add flavour and experience but why not? John Beattie easily could have carried it off as the leader of. Hugh Dan could have given us a bit of the Gaelic for those that have it and for colour for those of us who only have enough gaelic to order decent whiskey. BUT, then it struck me.....

was it as simple as

                                                                    they were
        scared

                                                                        someone unreliable might,

                                    on live TV

                                                                                                   to half the world,

that half which had
                                                shed the shackles of colonialism

            said

                                            YES,

                                                            its TIME.

Enough of the BS

                                                                    let's do it...............


32 comments:

  1. Sad Sack that I am, I wondered why BBC Scotland couldn't put together a decent commentary crew.

    Because BBC Scotland is just as much a fantasy as Scottish Labour. Just as Labour in Scotland is not an autonomous party but a region of Labour, BBC Scotland is not an autonomous broadcaster but a region of the BBC.

    The BBC will have decided on the commentary team. The BBC regional office in Scotland will have been informed by their head office of the decision.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HI Doug...

      There seems to have been a determined effort by the BBC to keep the games British. I don't watch tv in my house any more, but on a few occasions when I've been at my mum's all I've heard is Home Nations.

      Biased Broadcasting probably got their instructions on an occasion when they were phoning Manchester to ask permission to close the blinds.

      Delete
  2. I hope it's becoming clear to the undecided that Scottishness is simply a trick that has been played on the Scottish people. We are allowed to think of ourselves as a country cslled Scotland, but the rest of the world knows us a northern region of England.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well lets hope, that stirs their hearts and they put their X in the YES box.
      JimnArlene

      Delete
    2. I remember being asked in Paris where I was from in England (accent gives it away) I said: "I come from Scotland" and the guy said, "Is that IN the North of England?"

      A few minutes later one more Frenchman was educated about the place of Scotland in the world.

      Delete
    3. He he he
      JimnArlene

      Delete
    4. I was in Italy once, Turin and Aqui Termi to be precise, I was asked if I was Russian. To be fair, I have a rather strong Ayrshire brogue, once I explained I was from Scotland they were over joyed.
      JimnArlene

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    5. Ha ha... I've been taken for English... and even Swiss (I think because I speak french more slowly than a native...as do the Swiss), but never a Russian.

      One of my best mates is Bulgarian, and we got to know each other at the gym, because he was talking English with a strong accent to a mate he was exercising with... and I said "Je crois que je reconnais votre accent". He replied that his accent was in fact Bulgarian!!!

      So my much fabled ear for an accent was well out that day!

      I'm gonna have to research an Ayrshire brogue. Must be some sound.

      Delete
    6. Ít could have something to do with; I'm 6', bald headed (not through choice) and had a denim jacket on.
      As for the way I sound, my granny was fluent in auld Scots, my mother and father, were pretty fluent as well. It was never banned in our home, it was at school, but most of the teachers I had, spoke Scots and were proud to do so. I sadly can't remember a lot of the Words, I once knew, but if you've ever read Burns, you'll get the idea. It's not just the words though, there's the grammar and syntax; completely different from the modern English.
      JimnArlene

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    7. It's terrible the way we lost our language to English.

      I've read a lot about Scots in its various dialects on Wiki. I'd no idea that it was so different from English.

      Wish I knew more.

      Delete
  3. Good article Wilson, unfortunately no matter which way you put it, the BBC will always favour England, now in an independent Scotland the SBC,would be a pleasure to watch, with mainly Scottish content available.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really look forward to that day. In the meantime I've given up on the BBC completely and now stopped paying the licence fee.

      Delete
  4. Good on ya, Tris. I stopped paying mine two years ago. The threatening letters have started again. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Och it was a waste. I looked up and found out that if you only use the thing to watch dvds, which I do, you don't need to pay... so I emailed them and told them to stop my payments as of now.

      I used to get threatening letters when I HAD a licence, so it won;t make any difference to me.

      My pal got a call from them and he was pretty hard on the phone and told them to stop hassling him, and if they wanted access to his home they should bring a sheriff officer and police with them.

      Delete
  5. My brother and I were once mistaken for French in London, by New Zealanders.

    It's a sair fecht...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oui, it sharley is.

      A am sur zat you plaid ze part verrrry well, quand meme!

      Delete
    2. conan

      You mean your not French then............cor blimey. luv a duck, me old china

      Delete
    3. I just thought I would add that I thought it was a very interesting article by Wilson and at least he also added the silver and bronze totals to Scotland, the BBC felt it was too generous a total for us, so they missed them out. Thought I would add we, Hubby and I have been mistaken for Germans by Germans, and Croatians when it was Yugoslavia, we have also been thought as German by the English as well. Husband is tall and was fair haired and I am short and a bit tubby and fair haired, lost the red a few years ago, The Italian that thought we were English got disabused probably less kindlier than you did Tris.

      Delete
    4. Did the BBC really do that?

      Crivens. It must be the lack of money caused by people all over the country cancelling their payments.

      Delete


  6. In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
    George Orwell-

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Och Niko, are you mellowing?

      Delete
    2. Where, apart from 1984, did that come from Niko?

      Delete
  7. Decent whiskey?

    ReplyDelete
  8. There was a furore (a word I like to peddle out as much as I can) when Alisdair Gray wrote about colonists & settlers in the arts - namely English folk coming up to Scotland and instead of settling in and developing Scottish are, they were colonising and repressing it.

    I don't remember where I read it, but an English lady promoted to a position high in Scottish Arts (in the BBC from memory) hadn't heard of prominent Scottish arts figures even philistines like myself know pretty well. (I wish I could remember where I read that, a Scottish writer (probably quite well known) was trying to get something on the BBC in Scotland. He got the impression the English BBC stooge had no clue so asked what she thought about a specific Scottish arts figure - she didn't know who it was. Even I'd heard of the person mentioned.)

    So its fair to say England colonised Pacific Quay on behalf of our larger neighbour for the duration.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yep. It's not Scottish BBC, its the Scottish branch office of the London BBC. Nothing of course in the world matches the London arts scene.

    So much moaning about how people from Europe or the sub continent, or Caribbean, come here and bring their culture and their habits with them. So little about how London has infiltrated everything ... the North of England, Wales and Scotland, and probably NI too.

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  10. Cultural imperialism Tris, we have suffered from it in every increasing amounts every since we got Television. I am old enough to remember when Scotland did not hold Christmas for instance, my Dad worked that day. As a kid I used to open my presents when he was having breakfast before going out. It has got worse and worse, now they think they should handle everything.

    ReplyDelete
  11. So my Husband said, and considering what they have been up to I believe that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was for Tris regarding BBC behaviour.

      Delete
    2. Commenters,

      Thanks for all your kind comments.

      Over the years between traveling for work and for interest, I've been taken for several nationalities. I've been called the "E" word, often Irish, more often than you might imagine an Australian or New Zealander. The one I enjoyed most is once when I was in Oslo, an engineer lad I was working with spoke to me in Norwegian (in which I have a survival vocabulary) after a meeting in english. I explained I didn't snakker norsk. He was most confused - he said I sounded like a west coast Norwegian speaking english.

      Something on our recognition in foreign...... When I was a lad, I did a bit of hitch-hiking. On one lift a guy gave me a piece of outstanding advice. He said when I traveled I should always have some tartan about me. I've taken him at his word, and it has worked to my advantage on may occasions over the years. There's always a tartan scarf in my travel bag.

      As for our national shame. Come the day, I don't want a change of name on the wall and names on doors, I don't even want a new Scottish broadcaster with a similar format name, as if we were trying to ape that lot. I want a Scottish broadcaster who is bright, energetic, perceptive, ambitious, challenging, honest, who reflects all Scots home and abroad, women & men, all sorts, and who tells us about ourselves and everybody else. And we'll all be astonished and delighted.

      All the Best

      Wilson



      Delete
    3. Helena... Yes. it all changed in the 70s, I think.

      Wasn't it Heath who wanted the country to be like one, so he tried to force a whole pile of English things on Scotland, like regionalisation. That worked so well that they had to undo it all 20 years later.

      Delete
  12. Thanks Wilson for your articles.

    I was once saved, in Morocco, when I was just a kid, by being Scottish.

    Some nut job jumped me and said something in guttural french that I didn't really understand, but certainly ended in "Anglais".

    Somehow I had the presence of mind to not only insist that I was NOT Anglais, but Ecossais, but to do it in an outraged manner, and in French. (I must have been a lot cooler when I was a teenager; I'd probably go to jelly now!)

    In any case, he took the knife away from my neck and told me that his brother worked in Glasgow and that il aimait bien les gentils écossais...

    In fact he was a nice guy and we talked for ages about Scotland and Morocco.

    We are rather a popular lot around the world...

    ReplyDelete